Avalanche Hosts Capitals Before Heading Outdoors

Having won eight of its nine games since Jan. 16, a stretch bookended by shutouts, the Colorado Avalanche prepares to face the Washington Capitals at home on Thursday.
Philipp Grubauer earned his second shutout of the season on Tuesday as the Avs beat the Ottawa Senators 3-0 for the team's fifth-straight win. Mikko Rantanen scored the first goal of the game before Valeri Nichushkin extended the lead midway through the third period, his 11th goal of the season. Gabriel Landeskog scored an empty-netter while Nathan MacKinnon picked up two assists in the win.
The Capitals are coming off a 5-3 loss to the New York Islanders on Monday, as an early 3-1 deficit after the first period proved too steep to overcome. John Carlson had a goal and an assist in the loss while Nicklas Backstrom collected two helpers.

It is the second game of a five-game homestand for the Avalanche and the final outing before the team hosts the Los Angeles Kings in the 2020 NHL Stadium Series at the U.S. Air Force Academy's Falcon Stadium on Saturday.

Avalanche vs. Washington Capitals

Pepsi Center | Denver, Colo.
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COLORADO-WASHINGTON CONNECTIONS

The Avalanche acquired Andre Burakovsky from Washington in June 2019 for Scott Kosmachuk and a second and third-round pick in 2020… Colorado also acquired Philipp Grubauer from the Capitals in 2018, sending a second-round pick in 2018 to D.C. in return… Both Grubauer and Burakovsky were members of the 2018 Stanley Cup championship team.

HISTORY

The Avalanche beat the Capitals 6-3 in the teams' last meeting on Oct. 14, Colorado's first road game of the season. Mikko Rantanen and Nazem Kadri turned in three-point games (one goal, two assists) during a night in which the Avs built a 4-0 lead in the first period.
Colorado holds a 14-16-4 record since 1995 against the Capitals. Of the 11 players since 1995 who recorded a five-point game against the Caps, two were Avs. Claude Lemieux turned in a hat trick and two assists in a 6-6 tie in November 1997, and 20 years later, almost to the day, Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and four assists in a 6-2 win in November 2017.

ROSTER REPORT

J.T. Compher centered the Avs' second line on Tuesday in place of Nazem Kadri (lower-body), and will likely resume the role on Thursday.

INJURY REPORT

Nazem Kadri (lower-body) is out indefinitely. Head coach Jared Bednar said on Wednesday that he couldn't give an exact timeline for Kadri's recovery, but it could be 4-to-6 weeks … Colin Wilson (lower body) is also out indefinitely as he recovers from two surgeries earlier this season.

SCOUTING THE CAPITALS

Despite dropping four of their last seven since returning from the All-Star break, the Capitals (36-15-5) remain in first place in the Metropolitan Division and are five points behind first place in the league. Washington is averaging 3.55 goals per game, second-most in the NHL, only behind the Avs (3.64).
Fueling the Caps' offensive effort are Alex Ovechkin, who's tied for second in the league with 40 goals, and John Carlson, who leads the team and all NHL defensemen with 67 points (15 goals, 52 assists). Washington has six players with at least 40 points, tied with the Vancouver Canucks for the most such contributors.

(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: Alex Ovechkin

Alex Ovechkin has 57 points (40 goals, 17 assists) with four hat tricks this season, including three such games since Jan. 16. The eight-time Maurice "Rocket" Richard winner has 698 career goals, eighth all-time, and is looking to become the eighth player to join the 700 club.
Ovechkin has faced Colorado just 19 times in his career and has scored 16 points versus the Avalanche, tied for the fewest he has against any opponent (excluding the Vegas Golden Knights). However, he is on a three-game point streak against the Avs (two goals, three assists), with two points (one goal, one assist) in the 6-3 loss on Oct. 14.

NUMBERS GAME

4

Philipp Grubauer has won his last four starts since Feb. 4, boasting a .974-save percentage and a 0.75 goals-against average in that stretch.

13

Colorado has scored 13 more goals than it's allowed during its five-game win streak since Feb. 4, outscoring opponents by a combined score of 18-5.

200

The Avalanche hit 200 goals on the season in Tuesday's win, the third-most in the NHL with two fewer games played than the Toronto Maple Leafs (202) and Tampa Bay Lightning (201).

NOTEBOOK

Thursday will be the final game between the Avalanche and Capitals in 2019-20… Mikko Rantanen is two goals short of 100 for his career… Rantanen has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in six games against Washington while Gabriel Landeskog has 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in 14 games and Nathan MacKinnon has 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 12 contests... With an assist in Tuesday's win, Andre Burakovsky set a personal-high in assists (24)... The Avs are 16-5-3 against Eastern Conference Opponents this year… Through 55 games, Colorado has 20 more goals than it did at the same point last season (200 to 180).